"This may be the most exhilarating and revelatory history of our country. It is must reading for today's youth-as well as their elders." --Studs Terkel

From the boys who sailed with Columbus to today's young activists, this unique book brings to life the contributions of young people throughout American history. Based on primary sources and including 160 authentic images, this handsome oversized volume highlights the fascinating stories of more than 70 young people from diverse cultures. Young readers will be hooked into history as they meet individuals their own age who were caught up in our country's most dramatic moments-Olaudah Equiano, kidnapped from his village in western Africa and forced into slavery, Anyokah, who helped her father create a written Cherokee language, Johnny Clem, the nine-year-old drummer boy who became a Civil War hero, and Jessica Govea, a teenager who risked joining Cesar Chavez's fight for a better life for farmworkers. Throughout, Philip Hoose's own lively, knowledgeable voice provides a rich historical context-making this not only a great reference-but a great read. The first U.S. history book of this scope to focus on the role young people have played in the making of our country, its compelling stories combine to tell our larger national story, one that prompts Howard Zinn, author of "A People's History of the United States," to comment, "This is an extraordinary book-wonderfully readable, inspiring to young and old alike, and unique."

"We Were There Too " is a 2001 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature.

About the Author

Phillip Hoose books include" It's Our World, Too! Young People Who Are Making a Difference "and "We Were There, Too!" "Young People in U.S. History," a National Book Award finalist. A staff member of The Nature Conservancy for twenty-five years, he lives in Portland, Maine.

Praise For We Were There, Too!…

"A treasure chest of history come to life, this is an inspired collection. Readers could easily get lost in it by simply dipping into one compelling story after another . . . Because the book is packed with historical documents, evocatively illustrated . . . and full of eyewitness quotations, it should prove valuable to young historians and researchers." -Starred, School Library Journal